Technical Field
Embodiments disclosed herein are related to systems and methods for detecting horizontal attacks.
Related Art
As people use the internet for more and more reasons, scammers and so-called “black-hat” hackers increasingly look to the internet as a new frontier of illicit opportunity. People who use the internet to conduct financial transactions, such as making purchases and banking, can be attacked by the scammers and hackers and can be tricked into unwittingly divulging important personal information, such as login information, passwords, bank account information, and credit card numbers. The attackers can use this information for their financial gain, which can hurt the financial standing and credit rating of the people whose information is stolen.
One example of a known method used by attackers is called a horizontal attack. The horizontal attack is a type of attack in which an attacker attempts to use common passwords or other credentials to authenticate to a remote server. The attacker may try the same set of common credentials, such as a PIN of 1234 or 2580, for a number of different users, or may try a set of common credentials against a single user, such as a password of 12345678. The theory is that if the attacker tries enough common credentials against enough users, there is a good likelihood that the attacker will successful at least some of the time. The attacker can thus intercept or even change data, such as personal data and financial data by impersonating the one or more parties to each other, compromising the security of internet communications and transactions.
The variety and portability of internet-capable device have resulted in not only users being capable of performing internet communications and transactions more frequently, but also in the opportunity for attackers to trick users into giving them personal info nation and financial data. The lucrative potential that these attacks present the attackers encourages attackers to try and stay one or more steps ahead of the security. When a countermeasure or other security provision is put into place to stop or otherwise limit the effect of an attack, the attackers develop ways to overcome the countermeasure, or find additional ways to exploit the operating system, browser or other executable software to launch another, possibly more effective attack.
In the drawings, elements having the same designation have the same or similar functions.